A Hard Case
by cowgirl.at.heart
Summary: After the only witness to the case is murdered, Sara dissapears from work, and Grissom fears that she has finally burnt out. GSR Enjoy!


Sara sat in the interview room. Across from her sat a young woman, in her early twenties. Her eyes were red and puffy, from endless nights of crying herself to sleep. Her best friend was found tortured, raped, and murdered only a few days ago. Now she, herself was being stalked. The crazy madman was now stalking her, watching her every move. Her life was in danger, and CSI Sidle knew it. "Lauren, the same bastard that tortured and killed your best friend, is now after you. We can offer you protection. Put you in the care of the federal government. No one will be able to hurt you."

The woman fidgeted with her hair. "No…..no…. I'll be fine."

Sara was getting angry. These kind of cases always got to her. She was starting to lose her patience. "Don't you get it? This man is out to get you! Your life is in danger, and that bastard will stop at nothing to get you? We can help you!"

Lauren stood up. "No you don't get it! My life is already in danger just from being here. If he knows I've come here and talked to you guys, then he will kill me! I can't stay here. I'm sorry but I got to go." She got up quickly and grabbed her jacket.

Sara jumped up. "Lauren wait!"

"Bye Miss Sidle."

She walked quickly down the hallway and left the building. Sara slammed her fists down on the table. "Dam!" Grissom saw this through the two-way mirror. He decided that he should go and talk to her.

"Sara?" She turned and looked at him. "How'd things go with the friend?"

Her face was livid. "She denied! Can you believe it? Her life is in danger Grissom. Some creepy bastard is out there stalking her, with all the intentions of killing her, and she refuses our protection!"

Grissom sighed. This case was really gonna hurt her. "Sara some people….. are just …… different. They think differently than we do. What may seem obvious and logical to us, may seem totally immoral to them. We just have to live with it."

"But how Grissom?"

"I dunno how. But we just have to." Sara closed her eyes to collect her thoughts, took in a deep breath, and then walked out of the room.

Grissom sighed. He wanted so much, just to go to her, wrap his arms around her and kiss all her problems away. But he doubted that, that would ever happen. He knew how she felt about him. Ever since they had talked about her DUI counseling and she had asked him out to dinner. He didn't deny that he felt something to. Whenever she was around him, his stomach filled with fluttering butterflies, and his skin burned and tingled whenever she touched him. But he was scared. Scared that if he said _yes_, that one day she might wake up and wonder what she was doing next to this old man. He was also scared he might hurt her. He had never quite felt like this before, and he didn't know what to do. He shook his head in frustration, trying to get these thoughts out of his head.

Grissom got the call late at night, four days after the interview between Sara and Lauren. "Grissom."

"Gill it's Catherine."

"Hey Cath, what's up?"

"You know the rape case we've been working?"

"Yeah…."

"Bad news Gill, another body's turned up."

"Cath –"

She seemed to read his mind. "Yeah it is. Lauren Stephan. Tortured, raped, and murdered, just like her friend." She could hear mumbling on the other end of the line.

"Does Sara know?"

"Nick's calling her. I didn't have the heart to break it to her. He's like a brother to her."

He sighed. "Yeah I know. I should probably talk to her though. Maybe even take her off the case."

Catherine laughed. "Good luck trying to do that." She breathed in heavily. "Gill be careful with her. These cases are always 'special' to Sara. Don't hurt her."

"I know Cath, I know. I better go. See ya later."

"Yeah, bye Gill."

"Bye."

Sara wasn't at work when Grissom arrived, which was a little odd. _She's always here earlier. Often earlier than I am. Take it easy Gil, it's still 3 hours until shift starts, she still has time._

A couple hours later, Grissom walked into the break room to hand out the assignments. He noticed that Sara still wasn't here. The other CSI's could tell that her absence was bugging him. Catherine was the first to speak up.

"She's not here Gill. She's not in the building at all."

Nick walked over. "Yeah and she's not answering her cell phone or pager either."

Grissom's brow furrowed. "Did she take the night off?"

Warrick looked at the chart. "Nope, she's signed on for tonight. She doesn't have a day off 'till next week."

Grissom sighed. "Well, we still have cases that need solving. Catherine and Warrick? You two have a DB in the desert. Brass will meet you there. Nick, you and I will continue with the rape cases."

Shift was long. Lauren's body was in the same mess that her friend's was in. But after many long hours of analyzing, and some handy work done by Sam, the computer tech, they had caught they guy. He had packed his apartment, and was getting ready to leave the state. But now, he was safely behind bars. Grissom sighed a sigh of relief. _I had better call Sara._ He tried calling her cell phone, but she still wasn't answering. Then he tried her home phone. He got the machine after the first ring. _Clearly she doesn't want any calls._ So against some better judgment, Grissom drove his Tahoe over to her apartment.

When he got there, he sat in his car for awhile thinking things through. He wanted to go to her, and confess his undying love to her, but he knew that there was a big chance that he was **too late**. That he had waited to long, and now she could never be his. Putting his frustration out of his mind, he did what he hadn't done in a long time. He listened to his heart.

When she didn't answer after the doorbell and his knocking, he tried the doorknob. Lucky for him it was unlocked. _Why is her door open? Does she care so little about her life any more?_ He quickly scanned the living room and kitchen and didn't see her. _Where is she?_ It was then that he heard it. Someone was in the bedroom crying. No….not crying…..weeping.

He walked over the bedroom and pushed open the door. At first he didn't see her, but when he looked again, he saw a rather large lump underneath the covers. The lump was quivering, and sobbing. "Sara? Sara is that you? Sara it's Grissom."

She sniffed a couple times. "Go. Just leave Grissom. Please." Her voice was strained and weak.

"No Sara. I'm not leaving unless you really want me too. Do you want me to leave Sara?"

When she didn't answer, he walked over to the bed and sat down next to her. "Sara." He whispered her name, as he gently pulled back the covers. Sara was lying there, curled up in a ball, with her arms wrapped around herself. Her shirt was sweat soaked, from lying under the blankets for so long, and her face was tear stained. He whispered her name again. "Sara. Honey, you gotta let this go. Let this case go."

She wiped her eyes and looked up at him with sad eyes. "It was my fault Griss. I should have protected her. I should have made her gone into protection. I – "

"There was nothing more that you could have done Sara. You offered her protection, but she wouldn't take it. You did all you could. Now you have to let it go. Just …… forget."

Her face was confused. "How can you not feel anything Griss?" Seeing her like this hurt him badly, and he wanted so much to wrap himself around her, and kiss her senseless.

"You just have to Sara. You just have to force yourself not to feel anything."

She sat up, swung her legs over the bed, and stood up. She wrapped her arms around herself, and looked out the large window. After a couple minutes she turned around and looked at him with fresh tears in her eyes. "Hold me Griss. Hold me and tell me that you feel nothing at all."

He stood up and walked up behind her, placing his hands on her arms. "I can't." Her faced looked torn, and her eyes were brimming with tears. "I can't Sara, because holding you just wouldn't be enough."

She looked startled, and confused. She looked deeply into his eyes searching for the truth. Then she saw it….. love. "Sara I ……….. I…….."

"Shhhhh." She placed a finger on his lips, silencing him. She leant into him, resting her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her back, and pulled her tightly to him.

After what seemed like an eternity of minutes, he pulled back. "Sara? I……I.." He shook his head, to clear his thoughts then, leant over and placed his lips against hers. Slightly surprised, but equally willing, she met his passion with her own, and the kiss intensified. Electricity surged through their bodies, and they were wrapped in a blanket of passion. "Sara I love you."

That night Sara slept peacefully. For the first time since the case, Sara's dreams were not plagued with nightmares, because she was wrapped protectively in the loving arms of Gill Grissom.

THE END


End file.
